Yadier Molina is an All Star - A Hunt and Peck

It feels right.

By lil_scooter93 Jul 10, 2018, 1:00pm EDT

MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco Giants

There is the tendency for Cardinals fans to... over-hype the team’s long-time catcher Yadier Molina. It is understandable. The guy has been wearing the Birds on the Bat for nearly fifteen seasons, approaching 15,000 innings behind the plate. During that time, not only did his reputation as a defensive star grow, along with his ability to call a game and handle a pitching staff, but his offensive ability came around, making Molina a bona-fide star.

After two thumb injuries, along with plain-ole aging, Molina’s offense had slipped in recent years. However, in this, the year of 2018, Yadi has rebounded, posting a steady 119 wRC+ as a thirty-five year old catcher (that is ten years younger and around 13,000 innings more than fellow NL Central catcher Willllson Contreras, who some people like to pit against Molina for some reason).

Despite missing nearly a month after a foul ball hit him in a very sensitive area, Molina has accrued the sixth most fWAR among National League catchers. It looked as though the injury would set his production back just enough to keep him out of the All Star Game, but with the announcement that Buster Posey would miss the game, the NL needed a replacement.

And Yadi is in!

Yadier Molina has been named to the NL All-Star team to replace Buster Posey (right hip inflammation). pic.twitter.com/0T0rmgLorv
— MLB (@MLB) July 10, 2018